"The Customer Is Always Right" is...um...wrong?

We've all hear this phrase our entire working lives..."The Customer Is Always Right."  Well it seems this may not be entirely true.  Below is the top 5 reasons it is untrue.

1. It makes employees unhappy
2. It gives abrasive customers an unfair advantage
3. Some customers are bad for business
4. It results in worse customer service
5. Some customers are just plain wrong

These are arguably good reasons to disagree with the old phrase. Of course, however if anyone who deals with the public wants to be successful you must maintain, at least to some extent this rule of business.

The Chief Happiness Officer

Comments

[GoodThings2Life]

I've always held that the customer is always right in until customer action is allowed/taken. This is especially true when it comes to technology and biology where the only truth is that people lie.

Good customer service doesn't come from giving the customer everything they want all the time. It comes from listening to their concerns and addressing them, even if the outcome isn't what they want. It's about providing answers, solutions, best practices, and next steps.

For example, a coworker approaches me with a computer problem-- they can't connect to the network. This is a repeat occurrence. I examine the computer each time it happens and ultimately determine that there are a number of possible explanations and fixes. After trying them, the problem is fixed temporarily but later appears again. Eventually, I discover that it's not what the user is doing wrong, but it's what they're NOT doing right. So I sit down with the user, tell them what they're not doing, and offer alternative best practices. The person complies and the problem goes away. Meanwhile, another person has the same problem, but doesn't follow the instructions they're given and continues to have problems.

For that person, I remind them once again what they're supposed to do different and tell them that unless they comply, I cannot and will not help them on the issue. They insist that "it's worked like this before!" So, I tell them, that was then. The process is different now, and you must adapt. Person complies, problem is solved.